Sussex County Municipal Alliance Committees on Drug and Alcohol Abuse

The Municipal Alliance Strategic Plan for Sussex County has entered the fourth year of its five year grant cycle. This cycle consists of annual plans that are effective during the fiscal year of July 1 through June 30. The Fiscal Year 2018 Strategic Plan was approved by the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (GCADA) on May 17, 2017. The Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders accepted the plan in April 2017 and will enter into an agreement with GCADA to provide funding for alcohol and drug abuse prevention programming to the Municipal Alliances. Programs that have been approved within the plan will begin on July 1, 2017.

The FY2018 Strategic Plan for Sussex County consists of over 90 programs that will be conducted by the 11 Municipal Alliances, as well as countywide programs overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Community and Youth Services. Readers may be familiar with many of these programs but do not realize the connection between them and the Municipal Alliances. The grant award for Sussex County is $210,366.00.

There are 11 Municipal Alliance Committees representing 22 of the 24 communities in Sussex County. The 11 Municipal Alliances and the programs they provide or support are:

All of the programs presented by the Municipal Alliances must follow the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America's (CADCA) Strategic Prevention Framework. For a program to be accepted, it must contain several of CADCA's seven strategies for community level change. These can be individually focused (provide information, build skills, provide social support) or community focused (reduce barriers/enhance access, change consequences/incentives, alter the physical design of the environment, change policy and rules). Each of the Municipal Alliance Committees has worked very hard to meet these criteria in preparing their programming.

Every Municipal Alliance Committee consists of members from the community or communities it serves. They are volunteer-driven committees dedicated to providing substance abuse prevention programs and activities within their communities. If you would like more information about the Municipal Alliance in your community or to volunteer for your Municipal Alliance Committee or one of the county committees that oversee the program, contact Nick Loizzi, the Sussex County Municipal Alliance Coordinator at (973) 940-5200 ext. 1383.